We stayed at the Bright Angel Lodge in a Historic cabin for two nights 11-12 October 2012.
I must stress here, before you read on, that the setting for this site is within the National Park and World Heritage Site and is absolutely stunning; being only a matter of feet away from one of the most spectacular natural sights a human being can behold.
HOWEVER, upon our arrival we found it almost impossible to park. 'Pretty odd', we thought. It wasn't apparent to us why until we did find a parking spot (a 15 minute wait for one to become available), which was right beside a 6 foot high temporary wire fence. Upon further investigation it became obvious that the Bright Angel Lodge 'had the workmen in...' There was robust fencing threaded all around the lodges and pretty heavy construction work going on in areas that seemed highly likely to be where the guests staying in said lodges would've normally parked.
When we checked in I expected to be told of the construction and some sort of apology to be offered...nothing. I was given the keys to the lodge and a map...still no mention of the work site. I asked the receptionist to point on the map to where the cabin was, she duly obliged, but still the elephant in the car park remained invisible! "what, there...in the middle of the construction site?" I inquired. "Yes Sir" came the reply, the elephants covert presence remained intact to the very end! That is...save for the welcome letter in the cabin that surreptitiously alluded to the building site.
Now, the cabin was lovely. It was clean and well presented...surrounded by wire fencing admittedly, but nevertheless clean and well presented. The bed was comfortable and you got a real feel of quirky nostalgia within. The whole park was pleasant (let's put aside for a moment the jaw dropping views at every turn of the Canyon Rim),the restaurants and bar were warm and friendly, all their staff very obliging, the food tasty and well prepared. Which brings me to my point. Xanterra, you're a big concern, it would've been a drop in your ocean to offer your guests a decent percentage (15-20%) off their food bill, to compensate them for the construction inconvenience, wouldn't it? After all, it's a closed shop, you'd still be trousering the profits! Or is it just that you're 'too big' and don't care? As I said, your guests are pretty much a captive audience. Unless they're willing to travel a good distance and refrain from alcohol (to drive), they'll be eating with you regardless! Oh, and I've just learned, from reading other reviews, that those who complained were compensated-but one had to complain first, shame on you!
Location-5 blobs, cabin-4 blobs, bars/restaurants-4 blobs, Xanterra's apathy-5 blobs!